The Impact of the Dinder National Park Project on Wildlife Conservation and the Local Community

Abstract

This study was conducted in Dinder National Park(DNP) to evaluate the impact of Dinder National Park Development Project(DNPP). A project that was funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) it was implemented by the Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources (HCENR), Wildlife Conservation General Administration (WCGA) and the Sudanese Environment Conservation Society (SECS). The project, based on the Area Development Schemes (ADSs) experiences established 25 Villages Development Committees (VDCs) among the communities surrounding the DNP. The DNPP main objectives were conservation of biodiversity of the park and involvement of the surrounding communities in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the park through the application of the concept of the biosphere reserve management. The study consisted of three parts: The first one the survey or questionnaires distributed for the local communities and the wildlife personnel to know the perceptions towards the DNPP. About 74.7% of the local communities said that the project was successful and 25.3% not successful, and also 98% of the wildlife personnel stated that the project was successful and 2% thought that it was not successful. The second part of the study is the evaluation of wildlife law violations from the Wildlife Conservation General Administration (WCGA) records prior to the DNPP implementation (1996-2000), during project implementation (2001-2005) and after DNPP termination (2006-2010) in order to assess the impact of the project. The result indicated that wildlife law violation were 29% before DNPP implementation, dropped to 19% during project implementation and rose again to 52% after DNPP termination, that means DNPP was successful. The third part of the study is general count in five Mayas (Ras Amir, Beit Elwahsh, Abd elghani, Gerirrisa and Berkat Eltamseeh) The main purpose of this survey was to identify abundance and distribution of species of mammals and birds in DNP. The results showed that, the total number of mammals is about 3,820 in five Mayas studied which comprises 12 different species. The abundance of mammals per square kilometer showed that the Olive baboon has the biggest number 1.0846±128.34/km², compared with Porcupine which records the smallest 0.357±0.08/km², the results showed significant differences between five Mayas (P < 0.01). The results showed that, the total number of birds is 13,695 in five Mayas studied which comprises 54 different species. The results showed significant differences between five Mayas (P<0.01). The distribution of mammals and birds in DNP mainly depends on the availability of water and food.